MAKING the Most of Sessions

Counselling is an investment of time, energy, commitment, vulnerability, and money.

So, it’s important to get what you need and make the most of your counselling sessions.

Here are 5 things to keep in mind if you are thinking about or have started counselling.

They make things easier and more effective. 

The counselling process is a continual invitation to expand our readiness, focus, willingness, engaged effort and feedback.

Change is easier and more likely when we are ready. This means we’ve become uncomfortable and fed up with the status quo and/or are so in touch with the potential of better things that we can step into the change process. It also means we have prepared ourselves to be in a bit of mess, have cleared a bit of space, and have a bit of support around us.

Change is easier and more likely when we are ready. This means we’ve become uncomfortable and fed up with the status quo and/or are so in touch with the potential of better things that we can step into the change process. It also means we have prepared ourselves to be in a bit of mess, have cleared a bit of space, and have a bit of support around us.

Change involves willingness to: try; ask questions; tell the truth; ask for what we need; help ourselves and accept support. It also involves the willingness to: be vulnerable; move through the unknown; be with what is difficult; see and think about things differently; get back up when we fall down; let go of what’s not working; and practice many new things.

Change requires engaged effort. We have to lean into it and give it our active participation. This does not mean bulldozing our way through. It means showing up with as much compassion, courage and effort as we’ve got available to us in each moment to learn, be present, process,  practice, and reach for potential or to explore what’s getting in the way.

Change relies on feedback: first with ourselves (on progress and what’s working and not working); with others whose opinion we trust (on what they are noticing); to the counsellor (so they can support us even better); and from the counsellor (qualities they see in us, progress we’re making, places we are avoiding or haven’t quite connected with yet).